November/December 2018 GLOBAL EMERGENCY UPDATE

Read the latest report on Catholic Relief Services’ ongoing emergency response and recovery activities around the world. Our work is possible thanks to the generous support of private and public donors, the dedication of local partners, and the unwavering presence of Caritas and the local Catholic Church.

LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

A Honduran migrant family travels through Chiapas, Mexico. Photo by Miguel Juarez Lugo/Alamy

HONDURAS, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, GUATEMALA VENEZUELA An economic and EL SALVADOR AND MEXICO AND EL SALVADOR social crisis in Venezuela has seen Families from Honduras are fleeing Families living across the Dry thousands of citizens leave the gang violence and chronic poverty Corridor of Central America country amid food shortages, fueled by climate change. They are are facing long‑term drought, hyperinflation, currency devaluation, traveling across Guatemala and exacerbated by climate change and the collapse of the health system El Salvador toward Mexico and environmental degradation. Almost and social unrest. CRS focuses on the United States. CRS is working 3.5 million people need emergency the needs of the most vulnerable, closely with our partners to supply assistance. CRS is providing supporting our partners to help shelter, food, basic health services cash‑for‑work and livelihoods struggling people in Venezuela, and and legal advice to ensure their support, and helping build migrants in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, dignity and human rights. communities’ drought resilience. and Trinidad and Tobago. EAST AND SOUTH ASIA

INDIA Tropical Cyclone Titli struck on October 11, bringing strong winds and heavy flooding. It is estimated that 7.3 million people have been affected across the states of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh, where homes have been damaged or destroyed, and roads submerged. CRS and our partners are responding with shelter kits, and living and hygiene supplies. On the island of Sulawesi, an earthquake triggered a deadly tsunami. Photo by Mohammed Hafiz/CRS

INDONESIA A 7.5‑magnitude PHILIPPINES Close to 100 people BANGLADESH Cox’s Bazar district earthquake struck the island died when Typhoon Mangkhut hit the is at the center of a pressing of Sulawesi on September 28, Philippines on September 15. More humanitarian crisis. Since August triggering a tsunami. The disaster than 200,000 homes were reported 2017, widespread violence in caused more than 2,000 deaths. damaged or destroyed, thousands Myanmar’s Rakhine State has Homes, shops, mosques and hotels of people have been displaced, caused 700,000 Rohingya people collapsed, were swept away or and farmers and fishermen have to flee to Bangladesh, bringing the suffered extensive damage. Most been severely affected.CRS and total Rohingya refugee population homes have structural damage. our partners’ response includes in Bangladesh to nearly 1 million. As Potentially, 2 million people have cash assistance to help families of October 2018, CRS had assisted been affected. Relief operations buy essential household, shelter Caritas Bangladesh to support are well underway as CRS and our and hygiene supplies. We are also more than 263,000 Rohingya partners access hard‑to‑reach areas providing key messages to help refugees with shelter, water and and meet the urgent needs of the people rebuild their homes using sanitation, disaster risk reduction most vulnerable. disaster‑resilient techniques. and protection programming.

EUROPE, THE MIDDLE EAST AND CENTRAL ASIA

SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS Now IRAQ Iraqi forces have retaken YEMEN Fear of famine looms in its seventh year, Syria’s internal most ISIS‑held areas, since it as fighting and air strikes have armed conflict has displaced nearly first captured Mosul 4 years escalated drastically, including in 700,000 people in the first half of ago. Now, 4 million Iraqis—many the main port of Hudaydah. Eight this year alone, while 5.6 million of whom lost everything—have million people are dependent have sought refuge in neighboring returned home to areas in urgent on food aid for survival, and the countries. CRS and our partners need of restored education, United Nations has warned that provide comprehensive support to housing repair and livelihoods an estimated 14 million are on the communities and families across recovery. CRS and Caritas Iraq brink of starvation. CRS is working the Middle East, with education have helped more than 300,000 with its local partner Islamic and counselling assistance, shelter, people with a range of support, Relief Yemen to provide urgent, living supplies, food, medical including education, livelihoods, life-saving nutrition, water assistance, and hygiene and shelter and essential living and sanitation, hygiene, health sanitation. supplies. care and cholera prevention.

AFRICA

UGANDA Ongoing violence where over 287,000 people live, between South Sudan’s CRS is supporting the most government and opposition vulnerable families with shelter, forces has caused more than infrastructure improvements, water 1 million South Sudanese people and sanitation, and livelihoods to flee into neighboring Uganda, recovery. CRS programming also where resources are stretched. In assists the local Ugandan host the Bidi Bidi refugee settlement community.

2 GLOBAL EMERGENCY UPDATE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

HONDURAS, GUATEMALA AND EL SALVADOR CRS AND PARTNER RESPONSE DROUGHT CRS has a long history of working in countries across the Dry Corridor— Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador—and we work with local partners and communities in the areas severely affected by the drought.

In Honduras, CRS’ Water‑Smart Agriculture and Blue Harvest are the two primary agricultural projects, with a focus on water and soil conservation for about 1,300 corn, bean and coffee farmers. CRS also works across Intibucá through the McGovern‑Dole Food for Education Program, providing daily school meals to about 54,000 children.

In El Salvador, CRS and Caritas help farmers cope with ongoing challenges Much of Honduras’ staple corn crop has been lost to drought. Photo by Rafael Ochoa/Xinhua/Alamy related to climate change and degraded agricultural areas, and have CONTEXT trained staff in soil fertility and drought Families living across the Dry mitigation practices to help farmers Corridor of Central America are improve their overall resilience. facing a long‑term drought that 70 percent has parched agricultural land and In Guatemala, CRS is uniquely PRICE RISE IN CORN, THE MAIN withered crops. With the area positioned to respond with a huge SUBSISTENCE CROP prone to drought or extreme presence across the affected precipitation, people living there areas, and extensive agricultural are among the region’s most Key CRS findings in Honduras: programming over more than a impoverished and chronically ¡¡ Farmers reported losses decade. undernourished. of 75 percent for corn and 76 percent for bean crops in the CRS will expand its response to this The area has experienced year’s main crop cycle. crisis in the following ways: several severe droughts over ¡¡ The primary income sources are ¡¡ Providing cash‑for‑work the past 10 years, and almost agriculture, and manual labor in opportunities as a source of 3.5 million people are in need of agriculture and construction. income for these families as the emergency assistance. Average ¡¡ Subsistence farming families November‑December harvest annual temperatures in Central depend on their harvest, and season begins. These activities America have risen by 1.8 degrees on wages earned from local will focus on natural resource Fahrenheit in the past 50 years, agricultural work or temporary restoration in critical watershed while rainfall patterns have become labor during the coffee harvest. areas, soil conservation (terracing, more erratic and total rainfall has contour lines, drainage) and decreased. Most people in the ¡¡ Prices for corn, the primary reforestation around local water region rely on rainfed agriculture, subsistence crop, have risen sources. and the drought has exhausted dramatically. their food reserves. ¡¡ Food is urgently needed, ¡¡ Restoring livelihoods through especially for vulnerable groups livestock and seed fairs, which help According to the government such as children, breastfeeding people access agricultural assets of Honduras, 65,500 families— women and the elderly. and means for earning an income. or about 327,000 people—are ¡¡ Strengthening livestock—often affected across 74 municipalities. a family’s most valuable asset— The hardest‑hit departments through key interventions including include Lempira, Francisco vaccination services, veterinary Morazán, La Paz, Choluteca, El care and livestock fairs. Paraiso, Intibucá and Valle. An ¡¡ Building increased drought estimated 53,000 families need resilience for the next planting humanitarian assistance. season in January.

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HONDURAS | GUATEMALA | EL SALVADOR | MEXICO ‘MIGRANT CARAVAN’ CRISIS

Desperate families travel across Mexico as part of a caravan of thousands fleeing violence and poverty. Photo by Lexie Harrison‑Cripps/Alamy

CONTEXT CRS AND PARTNER RESPONSE In Honduras, Guatemala and The Catholic Church has played a CRS has outlined a strategy El Salvador, gang violence and critical role in supporting migrants to raise awareness about the drug cartels are escalating, causing during this humanitarian crisis humanitarian crisis so that key thousands of families to flee north. and has served more than 5,000 actors—such as the Church, CRS Many live in constant fear. They also people at various locations, from partners, government entities and struggle with chronic poverty, recently the Mexican city of Esquipulas, civil society actors—recognize failed harvests due to environmental near the border with Honduras, that migration is the consequence degradation and climate change, and to Guatemala City, and now in the of structural problems that can a lack of job opportunities. small Guatemalan town of Tecún be addressed through ethical Umán on the border with Mexico. decision‑making based on In October, thousands of people principles of human dignity and crossed from Honduras into CRS staff in Guatemala have the need for investment in children Guatemala, either with or without identified the most pressing needs and families. official documentation, and thousands facing people on the move. They are now entering Mexico. They come have also asked migrants at a CRS Guatemala and Mexico to Mexico seeking humanitarian visas, migrant shelter in Guatemala City continue to monitor the situation shelter, asylum or transit permits about their reasons for fleeing, their through regular communication to enable them to reach the United trajectory and plans, and their sense and coordination with Church States border. of safety and protection. partners, the migrant shelters of the Scalabrini Missionaries of Governments are stopping those San Carlos in Guatemala City and without proper identification and Tecún Umán, Caritas, and the turning them away at the El Salvador– Pastoral Human Mobility network Honduras border or the Guatemala– in Guatemala and Mexico. El Salvador border. More than 5,000 people have crossed into Mexico, and CRS Guatemala has sent another 2,000 into Guatemala. About volunteers from the Guatemala 1,000 Hondurans are still waiting to City office to provide relief to leave their country. staff of the Scalabrini migrant shelter in Guatemala City who National and international have been working around the organizations, as well as people living clock since the crisis began. along the route, have provided shelter, CRS is monitoring the flow of food, basic health services, legal advice migrants through Guatemala and hygiene kits to ensure the dignity into Mexico, and the response of and human rights of those fleeing international organizations, and deadly and desperate conditions. has provided this information to Humanitarian organizations are paying the Humanitarian Network led special attention to vulnerable families by the United Nations Office for A Honduran migrant family leaves who travel with children, people with Mapastepec city in Mexico. Photo by the Coordination of Humanitarian disabilities, and the elderly. Miguel Juarez Lugo/Zuma Wire/Alamy Affairs.

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VENEZUELA POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC CRISIS

CONTEXT Since 2015, Venezuela has been facing an economic and social crisis. In 2016, the drastic fall in the price of oil, the country’s main export, led to food shortages, hyperinflation, the collapse of the health system and social unrest. Food shortages have had an especially devastating impact. Venezuelans have lost an average of 24 pounds per person since 2017. And, of 15,000 children Volunteers prepare lunch for migrants from Venezuela at a church offering free meals and under age 5 being monitored by basic medical aid in Cucuta, Colombia. Photo by Nicolò Filippo Rosso for CRS Caritas Venezuela during the last year, 65 percent showed signs of CRS REGIONAL SUPPORT OF CARITAS AND PARTNER RESPONSE a nutritional deficit, and another 13 percent are living with acute Venezuela now serves thousands of bowls of malnutrition. Across 14 dioceses in 10 states, and soup each week. in the capital of Caracas, Caritas The Venezuelan government Venezuela is focused on health and Colombia has devalued its currency by 96 nutrition. At least 74 parishes are CRS supports Caritas Colombia to percent and named the new money conducting ongoing malnutrition provide shelter, and household and Bolívar Soberano, or Bs. Today, screening. As of October 2018, the hygiene supplies to Venezuelan the minimum monthly salary is following has been achieved: migrants. With CRS capacity support, Bs. 1,800, or US$29. This has had ¡¡ 16,845 children under age 5 Caritas Colombia was awarded a a significant impact on small and and 700 pregnant women were U.S. State Department Bureau of medium‑sized businesses—which screened. Population, Refugees, and Migration cannot afford to pay salaries—and grant for these activities. The Office ¡¡ 9,889 malnourished children under has led to nearly 40 percent of of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance age 5 and 309 pregnant women are all Venezuelan stores closing, and is supporting Caritas Colombia receiving food and medicine. many reducing their number of to provide protection and cash ¡¡ Specialized food supplements for employees. assistance to meet migrants’ living the treatment of malnutrition in needs, and provide health support, children have been imported. In late August, Ecuador opened and water, sanitation and hygiene. a humanitarian corridor and ¡¡ 302 clinics were organized, relaxed passport restrictions for attended by 14,136 patients. Brazil Venezuelans, whose arrivals had ¡¡ 14 dioceses have a basic stock of Caritas Brazil has begun distributing reached 2,500 people per day. medication. prepaid cash cards to help 1,600 Ecuador and Peru have become ¡¡ 1,051 community soup kitchens are Venezuelan refugees buy critical countries of passage for most operating and have served close to supplies such as food, hygiene refugees, crossing thousands of 100,000 meals. items or prepared meals. At Caritas miles of cold Andean mountain Brazil’s Center of Assistance, 100 passes. Peru, however, has recently In September, through an in‑kind Venezuelans receive legal aid and gone from accepting more than donation from Edesia Nutrition to CRS, psychosocial support per day. A 5,000 Venezuelan refugees daily, Caritas Venezuela received nutritious U.S. Department of State‑supported to establishing a more restrictive food shipments that will treat 1,800 project of Caritas Brazil will passport requirement for entry. at‑risk children. The number of church complement the government’s volunteers in Venezuela has doubled in relocation of Venezuelans, with the past year. Many volunteer doctors reception support at Caritas sites and nurses are donating their time to across Brazil. provide primary care. Other volunteers have scoured neighborhoods Trinidad and Tobago searching for children who need CRS partner Living Water Community assistance, training community in Trinidad attends to 150 Venezuelan members to make low‑cost water migrants per week with food and cash filters for drinking and inviting people assistance for diverse needs, including to become a part of a movement that housing, medical or living expenses.

5 GLOBAL EMERGENCY UPDATE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 EAST AND SOUTH ASIA

INDONESIA EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI

CONTEXT Distributions of CRS and Caritas relief supplies are underway for thousands of families following the devastating 7.5‑magnitude earthquake that struck the island of Sulawesi on September 28, triggering a deadly tsunami. The disaster caused more than 2,000 deaths, and over 10,000 people were seriously injured. Potentially, 2 million people have been affected across 85 districts, and over 211,000 are displaced in 980 evacuation centers or informal camps, with many more staying with relatives or friends. Community members construct temporary shelters for those whose homes were destroyed. Photo by Maria Josephine Wijiastuti/CRS Homes, shops, mosques and hotels collapsed, were swept away or suffered extensive damage. In the CRS AND CARITAS RESPONSE most heavily affected coastal areas, CRS emergency responders are CRS procured essential food and CRS and our partners noted that up working closely with Caritas household items for 6,000 families, to 80 percent of houses had been Indonesia (locally known as Karina) 2,000 kitchen sets and 9,000 destroyed. Displaced families are and other local partners to access tarpaulins. CRS and our partners widely dispersed, making it hard to hard‑to‑reach areas and meet the have already distributed 3,926 kits confirm their numbers and locations. urgent needs of the most vulnerable. of household and hygiene supplies. Several Caritas Internationalis We have identified three villages to Many families have land that is member organizations are receive emergency shelters, assisting no longer usable. The earthquake supporting a coordinated response about 1,500 families, and 551 of these caused liquefaction—when implemented by CRS and Karina. have already been built. To facilitate saturated soil loses strength, shifting Local CRS and Karina staff members access to water, CRS and our partners structures significant distances are among the most seasoned in have procured 17 water tanks. Five from their original locations. Some responding to crises, given the 2,000-liter water tanks have now been 67,000 people need immediate cyclical nature of disasters in their installed at informal evacuation sites, emergency shelter and household country, and are working tirelessly assisting about 1,224 people. items, and about half of those will to get aid to those most in need. require longer term recovery and CRS hopes to assist 44,000 people CRS will procure 140 kits of tools and reconstruction support. over the next 3 months. protective gear to support community efforts to clear debris. Some 92,000 displaced people For the first phase of the response, on 359 sites do not have access CRS identified 13 priority areas CRS and our partners are prioritizing: to toilets and more than 3,300 on across the districts of Palu, Sigi ¡¡ Transitional shelters—new, 10 sites do not have access to water. and Donggala, where we are rehabilitated or rented—with Solid waste management is a major aiming to provide immediate relief latrines and/or bathing facilities, concern. The rehabilitation and to over 7,400 families. This will using cash assistance. cleaning of wells are key priorities to take place through direct supply ¡¡ Disaster risk reduction activities. improve access to safe drinking and distribution or through cash ¡¡ Cash assistance for families to washing water. assistance. buy critical supplies.

Some markets and banks that had closed after the disaster We saw the ground splitting, with mud and water have since reopened. While the coming out. We walked with our neighbors, and Governor of Sulawesi welcomed kept walking. We slept under the sky that night, offers of international assistance, as we brought nothing. humanitarian access to affected areas remains restricted and international Umi Sumbajono, recipient of CRS/Caritas nongovernmental organizations need “ hygiene supplies, Jono Oge village authorization to send staff in.

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THE PHILIPPINES TYPHOON MANGKHUT

CONTEXT Close to 100 people lost their lives during Typhoon Mangkhut— known locally as Ompong—which made landfall in the Philippines on September 15. With sustained winds exceeding 124 mph, Mangkhut affected more than 3 million people across northern Luzon island. More than 200,000 homes were reported damaged or destroyed. The hard‑hit areas are heavily agricultural, with 288,000 farmers and fishermen severely affected. Some farmers have reported losing 90 percent of their impending rice harvest. About Ramilyn Estimada, right, and her family took refuge in her aunt’s home when theirs was destroyed. 236,000 displaced people were CRS is helping families like Ramilyn’s with water purification and shelter kits. Photo by CRS staff still living in evacuation centers at the end of October. It’s difficult and heartbreaking, but life must go on. CRS AND CARITAS RESPONSE Ramilyn Estimada, who lost her home CRS is working with its local in Tuba, Benguet province Caritas partners in Benguet and Cagayan provinces, two of the hardest‑hit areas, and have provided the following: “In Cagayan, CRS is working with the people rebuild their homes using Diocesan Social Action Committee, disaster‑resilient techniques. ¡¡ Jerry cans and water purification other diocesan partners and the tablets to 311 families in Benguet. local governments to provide CRS continues to implement relief ¡¡ Cash assistance for 1,229 unconditional and unrestricted cash activities with local Diocesan families in Benguet and Cagayan assistance to families whose homes Social Action Committee staff and to buy household, shelter and were destroyed during the typhoon. volunteers in the city of Baguio and hygiene supplies. Additional This will enable them to buy some in Cagayan. CRS has coordinated the cash transfers are planned for materials to repair their homes. delivery of cash assistance with local the most‑affected families in CRS and our partners are also government and other humanitarian both provinces. providing key messages to help responders.

CRS and our partners are prioritizing shelter needs in Benguet, where families are unable to return home due to the risk of landslides and land instability, which have resulted in the area being designated a no‑build zone. This support is taking place through conditional cash transfers to families who were displaced by landslides and those who have been asked by the local government to move out of their homes because of the high risk of further landslides. The 6‑month cash assistance will enable families to temporarily rent safe and dignified shelter while awaiting more lasting solutions. More than 200,000 homes were reported damaged or destroyed. Photo by CRS staff

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BANGLADESH ROHINGYA REFUGEE CRISIS

CONTEXT Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh is at the center of a pressing humanitarian crisis. Since August 2017, widespread violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine State has caused 700,000 Rohingya people to flee to Bangladesh, bringing the total Rohingya refugee population to nearly 1 million. Of these, about 600,000 are living in the Kutupalong‑Balukhali expansion site, the world’s largest and most densely populated refugee camp.

The refugee population initially settled on a hilly landscape that was quickly deforested. Efforts have been made to improve the area as well as to resettle families in better planned, less Through a CRS cash‑for‑work activity, Rohingya refugees used local materials to build congested settlements. structures such as drainage and terraces to mitigate erosion and flooding in the refugee settlement. Photo by Christopher Reichert/CRS CRS AND CARITAS RESPONSE CRS is supporting Caritas ¡¡ Relocated 43,640 refugees for ¡¡ Made ongoing improvements to Bangladesh to provide vital shelter, landslide and flood risk mitigation drainage, paths and retention walls. water, sanitation and hygiene, and infrastructure development. ¡¡ Planted trees, shrubs and grasses, living supplies and protection and installed street lights. assistance within Kutupalong’s Water, sanitation and hygiene ¡¡ Constructed peripheral drainage planned and improved sites using ¡¡ Constructed 219 latrines, 18 deep and discharge points. a community‑led approach. Given tube wells and 150 bathing areas. ¡¡ Led discussions on the design of the dynamic operational context, ¡¡ Distributed hygiene kits to 12,000 structurally sturdy learning facilities CRS and Caritas Bangladesh households. that can be used as safe communal are continually adapting project ¡¡ Promoted hygiene, including shelters in an emergency. plans—including designs, locations hand‑washing and safe water and timeframes—to meet the handling. Protection refugees’ most pressing needs, ¡¡ Activities for children are being while maintaining high‑quality ¡¡ Provided supplies and trained supervised at six child friendly programming. This flexibility community volunteers on spaces. Plans are in place to enables the team to quickly respond cash‑for‑work activities, including develop a further five. to urgent needs. As of October cleaning latrines and bathing 2018, CRS had assisted Caritas spaces, repairing wells and ¡¡ Through the Barefoot Counselor Bangladesh in supporting more than managing solid waste. project, community discussions 263,000 Rohingya refugees. were held to define concepts of Household supplies protection, violence, trafficking Shelter ¡¡ Distributed stoves and refilled and gender‑based violence ¡¡ Distributed 7,390 shelter kits with liquid petroleum gas for 12,000 based on the communities’ own technical construction support. households. understanding. ¡¡ 25 volunteers from the Rohingya ¡¡ Provided pre‑monsoon tie‑down Disaster risk reduction and community will be trained on kits to 171,697 households. site improvement communication techniques, ¡¡ Provided transitional shelter to ¡¡ Designed and implemented confidentiality and protection 2,909 households. disaster risk reduction plans with principles, and on conducting ¡¡ Completed 677 midterm shelters. communities. household visits in the camp. ¡¡ In discussions with the U.N. High ¡¡ Engaged the community in ¡¡ Caritas Bangladesh received Commissioner for Refugees to drawing maps that were then funding to build and operate three build 1,500 midterm shelters in digitalized onto mapping women friendly spaces, which are Chowkali, a new area of land software for ease of planning and expected to start up in the next being developed near Teknaf. implementing programs. few months.

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INDIA CYCLONE

CONTEXT Tropical Cyclone Titli struck India on October 11, with wind gusts exceeding 100 mph. The storm brought heavy rains, with some areas receiving more than 11 inches in 24 hours. The strong winds, and flooding from heavy rains and overflowing rivers, damaged homes, farmland, roads and bridges. The hardest‑hit states are Andhra Pradesh and Odisha, with reports of 7.3 million people affected, 6 million in Odisha alone. To date, 24 deaths have been reported.

Roads between villages are Most houses in the affected areas are made of mud, or a mixture of mud and cement. submerged and have been washed Photo by Padmakeshari Sahoo/CRS away in many places. Affected villages can only be reached CRS RESPONSE AND ADDITIONAL NEEDS on foot. Homes are severely CRS is working with local partners These efforts will focus on providing damaged—tin and thatched roofs to support families in Odisha and longer‑term resilience‑oriented blown away and walls collapsed. Andhra Pradesh with the following: assistance, including building In Odisha’s Gajapati District, it is safer homes by incorporating ¡¡ Living supplies, including estimated that as many as 1,200 disaster‑resilient construction mosquito nets and blankets, for homes are damaged. Most houses techniques, and training local 2,000 families. in the affected areas are made masons and carpenters. We will help ¡ Hygiene kits and supplies, of mud, or a mixture of mud and ¡ people recover their incomes and including buckets, soap and water cement. bolster their livelihood options by purification tablets, for 2,000 providing cash‑for‑work activities, families. People were evacuated to cyclone and seed and livelihood fairs. shelters and schools. However, ¡¡ Shelter kits for 3,500 families. school shelters are overcrowded, Looking ahead, CRS and our local Our partners include the Society and offer no privacy for women. partners are prioritizing efforts to for Welfare, Animation and Huge damage has been reported ensure that the most vulnerable Development, the Srikakulam to public infrastructure, including families are able to successfully Social Service Society, and the roads, electricity and water supply. transition from emergency to Association for Rural Upliftment Crops have been heavily damaged recovery. and National Allegiance. in all the affected districts, leading to loss of livelihoods for people dependent on agriculture. The livelihoods of daily wage laborers and small farmers have been decimated.

Local markets were not badly impacted and are functional, and there is no shortage of supply from central markets, so food and shelter materials are available.

Immediate needs include temporary shelter, mosquito nets, safe drinking water, food, and hygiene and living supplies. CRS is working with partners to provide families with basic living supplies. Photo Rajashree Purohit/CRS

9 GLOBAL EMERGENCY UPDATE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 AFRICA

UGANDA ¡¡ Constructed and improved motorized, solar‑powered water DISPLACEMENT supply systems for potable water. ¡¡ Trained 1,461 people—including 1,097 women—in sanitation practices and safe water handling. ¡¡ Provided ongoing training to water‑user committees for the maintenance of new water systems and continued supervision of new construction. ¡¡ Distributed hygiene supplies to 2,800 households. ¡¡ Decommissioned 700 latrines and constructed 160 waste pits. ¡¡ Promoted hygiene and provided water and sanitation supplies, such as soap, water storage and Through CRS cash‑for‑work activities, refugees and host community members have built collection containers, and sanitary shelters, and water and sanitation systems. Photo by CRS staff pads, to 4,800 households.

CONTEXT CRS AND PARTNER RESPONSE Livelihoods Since South Sudan gained CRS is working closely with other When their basic needs are independence in 2011, fighting humanitarian agencies to ensure met, refugee families can focus between government and a coordinated response. The on rebuilding their lives. CRS is opposition forces has uprooted CRS program is focused on a supporting 6,000 vulnerable refugee more than 1.8 million people from comprehensive approach to shelter and Ugandan families to start or their homes. As of August 2018, for the most vulnerable, as well as strengthen their livelihood options. about 1.07 million South Sudanese water and sanitation, livelihoods, This includes agricultural seed and refugees had fled to Uganda. To school construction and the repair or tools; various trainings in agriculture, reach safety, most people traveled rehabilitation of infrastructure. vocational skills, entrepreneurship through the bush for several days and financial management; the without access to food or water. Shelter and settlement formation of farmer groups, savings Most are women and children. CRS provides permanent, secure groups and microenterprise groups; shelters for vulnerable refugees and has: and access to start‑up capital and The Bidi Bidi refugee settlement ¡¡ Constructed 725 shelters for people a social fund through savings and in the Yumbe region of northwest with special needs. lending groups. Uganda, where CRS is working, ¡¡ Allocated sites for the construction is one of the largest in the world. To date: of another 488 shelters for the It was declared saturated when especially vulnerable. ¡¡ 1,396 refugees and host community the population exceeded 288,000 members have completed a ¡¡ Constructed and renovated people. Since January 2018, only temporary structures for refugee 3‑month intensive vocational and family reunification cases have been registration by the U.N. High business training course focused accepted there, while new arrivals Commissioner for Refugees— on carpentry, tailoring, masonry, are relocated to other settlements in including shaded waiting areas, catering and motel management, the West Nile sub‑region of Uganda. fences and large, organized spaces hair dressing or car mechanics. Significant gaps remain within for registration. ¡¡ 1,050 members of microsavings Bidi Bidi, and agencies are trying to and lending groups—80 percent of respond to families’ critical needs. ¡¡ Launched the construction of two whom are women—have engaged schools for 1,944 children. in small enterprises like agricultural Uganda is unique in its openness Water, sanitation and hygiene production and food sales. and hospitality toward refugees, ¡¡ 12 people, including 3 women, but its resources are stretched. To prevent cholera and other received training to support Refugees are free to move about, life‑threatening diseases, CRS is microsavings programs. work and establish businesses. supplying vital access to clean water, And they receive land to build sanitary household latrines, and ¡¡ 6 demonstration gardens of shelter and grow food. But there is information on good sanitation and cassava were established. a great need for safe shelter, clean hygiene, including the following: ¡¡ 48 lead farmers, including water and sanitation, and viable ¡¡ Constructed 1,736 household 15 women, were selected from livelihoods. latrines, and hand‑washing stations 6 villages to represent host and for 8,680 people. refugee communities.

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AFGHANISTAN DROUGHT

CRS works to ensure the health of livestock—often a family’s most valuable asset. Photo by Nikki Gamer/CRS

CONTEXT CRS AND PARTNER RESPONSE In late 2017, Afghanistan began In March this year, CRS launched its The $3 million program is to experience a reduction in drought emergency response, which supported by the Office of U.S. rainfall by as much as 75 percent, it plans to continue until at least Foreign Disaster Assistance, and which continued into 2018 and September 2019. will provide sustained access has resulted in a severe drought. to safe water through well Across the country, crops are After multiple assessments across construction, piping, hygiene drying up, livestock are dying, Herat and Ghor provinces, CRS promotion and filter distribution. and disease is on the rise with the plans to reach more than 30,000 scarcity of clean drinking water. people with water, sanitation and The water system construction hygiene programming, as well as and rehabilitation activities will These rural areas, with an protection of livestock—often a take place through a cash‑for‑work estimated population of family’s most valuable asset. In program, enabling participants to 2.2 million people, were already October, CRS started a water and earn a temporary income during experiencing chronic food sanitation program targeting 5,400 this difficult time. CRS is hiring shortages, and 1.4 million people families in Herat, Ghor and Daykundi. water engineers and construction are expected to suffer severe supervisors to ensure technical food shortages and require oversight. emergency assistance in the coming months. More than 2.2 million To bolster household assets, 266,000 people have been PEOPLE ARE EXPERIENCING CRS is also focusing on livestock displaced across the western CHRONIC FOOD SHORTAGES protection. This includes key region due to this crisis. messaging on preserving feed and protecting herds. Feed distributions are planned in Herat, Ghor, Daykundi and Bamiyan provinces targeting 5,000 families in 88 villages. At least 554 families have received livestock feed to date.

11 GLOBAL EMERGENCY UPDATE | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2018 EUROPE, THE MIDDLE EAST AND CENTRAL ASIA

SYRIAN REFUGEE CRISIS DISPLACEMENT

CONTEXT Now in its seventh year, Syria’s internal armed conflict has taken an alarming toll on millions of people. While some areas of the country have stabilized and are trying to recover from 7 years of war, others continue to be subject to heavy rocket and mortar attacks. In the first half of 2018, nearly 700,000 people were displaced by the conflict.

The widespread insecurity and unbearable economic conditions have resulted in the displacement Aziza, a Syrian refugee from Aleppo, lives with her 4‑year‑old son in a refugee camp in Lebanon. of 13.1 million people, with 5.6 million Photo by Ismail Ferdous for CRS seeking refuge in neighboring countries. Most are women, children CRS RESPONSE Parent involvement and the elderly. Since the Syrian war began, CRS ¡¡Parent‑teacher association and our Church partners have been meetings and other engagement Syria’s neighbors bear a heavy working to provide comprehensive opportunities for parents to connect burden: Lebanon and Jordan are now support for communities and families with their children’s teachers and home to more than 1 million refugees across the Middle East. school support staff. each, with nearly 80 percent of the ¡¡Helping parents learn new refugee population in each country Education techniques to support their living below the poverty line. Syrian ¡¡ Remedial tutoring classes each children’s education and ensure they refugees now represent a quarter of school year for 1,815 students can learn and grow in a safe and Lebanon’s total population, a higher who are already enrolled in public healthy home environment. proportion of refugees than in any schools, to help them succeed and Shelter and rent assistance other nation. The influx of refugees prevent attrition. Monthly rent stipends support most into Lebanon and Jordan has strained ¡¡ Kindergarten for 540 children each refugees who live in urban areas. With public services, especially the year to prepare them to enter formal few opportunities to earn income, education system. schools. this helps prevent homelessness, ¡ Outreach to Syrian refugee ¡ squatting and destitution. In these countries, Syrian refugees families to promote educational have limited livelihood and education opportunities for children. Living supplies opportunities. They have had to ¡¡ Transportation, healthy snacks and Relief kits of bedding, stoves, buckets sell their valuables to pay rent, and supplies to facilitate attendance and and other household items are buy food and other essentials, and learning. provided to newly arriving refugees. are increasingly vulnerable to risks ¡¡ Trainings for teachers and bus like child labor, begging and child monitors to better educate and Food marriage. protect students. Cash and voucher programs allow people to buy the food they Education is a primary need. Many Psychosocial support need, respecting their dignity and refugee children have been out of ¡¡ Group counseling for 6,000 supporting the local economy. school for months—even years— students, supplemented by making it challenging to integrate individual counseling when needed. Medical assistance back into schools. Stress, anxiety and ¡¡ Psychosocial classroom activities for This includes immediate care for trauma from the conflict also interfere 2,355 children per year. life‑threatening injuries, care for with children’s learning. ¡¡ Recreational activities outside the chronic conditions such as diabetes, classroom. and maternal and child care. ¡¡ Training for counselors, staff and teachers to identify and support. Hygiene and sanitation children with psychological needs Vouchers for soap, laundry detergent, ¡¡ Infrastructure improvements to the diapers and other sanitary supplies learning environment. are provided.

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IRAQ DISPLACEMENT

CONTEXT Since ISIS first captured Mosul 4 years ago, up to 5.9 million Iraqis have been displaced. Following an intensive operation, Iraqi forces retook most ISIS‑held areas. With an estimated 8.7 million people still in need, the needs of returnees now surpass those of internally displaced people. As of October 2018, 4 million Iraqis had returned home, while almost This child’s family has returned to the home it fled in Bashiqa, Iraq. CRS provides cash assistance 1.9 million remain displaced. CRS that enables such families to repair their conflict-damaged homes. Photo by Megan Gilbert/CRS has identified significant gaps in restoring education, repairing CRS AND PARTNER RESPONSE housing and recovering livelihoods CRS and Caritas Iraq have helped Shelter in areas of return. more than 300,000 people with Many families continue to live in a range of support in Dohuk, displacement across Dohuk, Kirkuk, Nineveh, Kirkuk, Baghdad and Nineveh, Anbar and on the outskirts of Anbar. We take a community‑based Baghdad. Families returning to cities 4 million approach to meeting the diverse recently retaken by Iraqi military forces needs of those who have returned, are finding their homes damaged. IRAQIS HAD RETURNED HOME AS OF OCTOBER those who are still displaced, and With their finances depleted and few other vulnerable host community options for earning an income, they members. CRS and Caritas Iraq also face huge challenges. Shelter activities CRS and Caritas Iraq are focusing give careful consideration to the include the following: initial returnee support on dynamic among people of various ¡¡ Building upgrades Over 80,000 the Nineveh Plains, where an religious and ethnic backgrounds. people have received shelter support, estimated half of uprooted families As a key step in rebuilding trust with a further 15,000 to benefit this have returned in the past year. broken by the conflict, CRS is rolling year. This includes improving the Livelihood opportunities are out social cohesion activities in safety, weatherproofing and privacy limited and, for returnees, the areas that have been retaken from of buildings where families have relief of returning after years of ISIS. taken refuge. displacement is tempered by the challenge of rebuilding their lives. Education ¡¡ House repairs for returnees Cash CRS and Caritas Iraq are supporting and technical help is being provided The years of conflict have over 10,000 children with access so that families can repair their created instability and destroyed to quality formal primary and homes. infrastructure. Iraq’s education secondary education while they are ¡¡ Core housing units When a home system has been deeply affected— displaced. Once they return home, has been severely damaged an estimated one in four schools support includes physical upgrades or destroyed, CRS constructs was destroyed, and many more to schools, teaching materials and transitional core housing units on damaged. Returning safely and teacher training. CRS is scaling up the returnee family’s property. These with dignity to areas retaken from our education support in areas of are designed to enable families to ISIS will also require land mine return, ensuring schools are safely add further rooms when they have removal, significant investment in repaired, and that teachers and the funds to do so. infrastructure and the rebuilding of parents are equipped to support the local economies. emotional needs of students. Essential living supplies Returning families often need basic Livelihoods living supplies like kitchen sets, CRS and Caritas Iraq are providing bedding and stoves. CRS provides cash grants and coaching as families cash grants that enable them to buy restart small businesses. This what they need most, which supports programming will be expanded with local vendors and injects cash into job readiness and entrepreneurship the economy. More than 200,000 training to support youth who have displaced families have received such returned home. support.

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EUROPE REFUGEE AND MIGRANT CRISIS

CONTEXT Refugees continue to undertake dangerous journeys to Europe. CRS and our partners have assisted 400,000 refugees and migrants across Greece, Serbia, Macedonia, Croatia, Bulgaria, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, where we also help other vulnerable groups. We prioritize support for displaced families as they build new lives in communities where they have been granted asylum, with the goal of helping them become self‑sufficient. In Žepče, Bosnia and Herzegovina, a CRS agricultural project supported Mehmed and Amira CRS AND PARTNER RESPONSE Hasanbasic to expand their vegetable production to boost their income. Photo by Paul Eagle/CRS GREECE An estimated 60,000 refugees and ¡¡ Livelihoods CRS and Caritas have ¡¡ Helped 95 refugees and asylum asylum seekers are in Greece. helped 190 refugees with training seekers find employment in the and links to job opportunities. This past year, offering livelihoods and Cash assistance We provide refugee includes job readiness support integration support to 580 people. and migrant families in camps with such as resume writing, interview ¡¡ Assisted 1, 900 people to meet their ATM cards that they can use to buy skills, Greek language classes and needs through cash assistance, and supplies in local shops. In support registering for necessary legal targeted a further 300 people with of the Greece Cash Alliance—a documentation. For children, short‑term cash support. activities include support to enroll coordinating body of humanitarian ¡¡ Provided temporary housing agencies, the U.N. Refugee Agency in Greek schools, tutoring and for 160 people, with support and the government—CRS has homework support, sports clubs for an additional 20 families. helped ensure access to cash for and arts activities. Assisted another 100 families with 2,200 people monthly and helped ¡¡ Shelter We work with the Athens emergency shelter. 17,000 people with this vital municipality and local partners assistance since 2017. to explore affordable housing UKRAINE options to help refugees move Urban transitional shelter support out of provided shelter and live DISPLACEMENT CRS and Caritas have provided safe, independently. dignified housing for 4,800 asylum As the conflict in eastern Ukraine seekers through the renovation enters its fifth year, more than of apartments in Athens and SERBIA 3.4 million people are in need of Thessaloniki; families also receive More than 3,600 asylum seekers are humanitarian assistance. Loss of cash assistance to cover basic estimated to be in Serbia. Almost 90 livelihoods, rising prices and poor needs. Trained case managers have percent are staying in government‑run access to markets make food given 15,250 referrals for specialized centers. CRS and our partners have security a year‑round challenge assistance, and accompanied families renovated 3 of 18 reception centers for internally displaced people and during medical appointments for and built 2 ambulance offices residents. physical and mental health needs, as and child friendly spaces within well as legal and social services. the centers. We provide medical Livelihoods CRS and Caritas protection in 9 centers, and have Ukraine have provided agricultural To help refugee and migrant families helped 6,740 people with cash cash grants to 552 families, with better integrate both socially and assistance for basic living needs. technical assistance to vulnerable economically into Greek society, CRS families for small‑scale farming works with our partners to provide BULGARIA activities. We have also supported vital job skills, education, long‑term CRS supports people in 4 refugee urban livelihoods. Vulnerable women affordable housing and social camps and 2 detention centers, and improve their social and economic opportunities including: provides services for refugees outside well-being through skills training the camps. Assistance includes: and grants to start small businesses. ¡¡ Buddy program Greek families are paired with refugee families to help ¡¡ Shelter, cash, educational and Shelter CRS continues to explore orient them to the city and develop recreational activities, case long‑term, durable housing solutions friendships. management and livelihoods. for internally displaced people.

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YEMEN CONFLICT

CONTEXT Fear of famine looms in Yemen as fighting and air strikes have escalated drastically, including in the main port of Hudaydah. Yemen is being devastated by war between forces loyal to the government—backed by a Saudi Arabia‑led coalition—and Houthi rebels. More than 10,000 people have been killed since March 2015.

The conflict and a supply blockade have triggered a humanitarian disaster, leaving 70 percent of the population urgently in need of aid. Eight million people are dependent on food aid for CRS partner Islamic Relief distributed 4,000 hygiene kits to families. Photo courtesy of Islamic Relief survival, and the United Nations has warned that an estimated 14 million The inaccessibility of some Cholera prevention and relief are on the brink of starvation. People’s high‑risk areas has obstructed the ¡¡Provided medicine to 2,110 diarrhea inability to access vital food stems humanitarian response, as has a patients. from the sustained punitive economic shortage of resources, including ¡¡Provided hygiene kits, jerry cans and measures imposed by the Saudi-led laboratory supplies and rapid water treatment tablets to 4,000 coalition, including blockades, import diagnostic test kits. Communities households. restrictions and withholding the salaries need access to established, fully ¡¡Provided treatment centers with of millions of civil servants. Meanwhile, equipped and supplied diarrheal solid waste bins, cleaning kits and food and fuel prices have doubled and treatment centers, case management mosquito nets. millions are left without the means to guidelines, training, and staff payment ¡¡Provided educational materials for feed themselves or their families. and support. cholera and hygiene sessions, and reached 4,000 households through The latest UNICEF figures CRS AND PARTNER RESPONSE trained hygiene promoters. estimate 1.8 million acutely Through our partner, Islamic Relief malnourished children, with more Yemen, CRS continues to coordinate Water, sanitation and hygiene than 400,000 children under age 5 with government ministries and ¡¡Provided access to safe, clean water suffering from severe, life-threatening humanitarian agencies to provide aid. through the rehabilitation of water malnutrition. Activities have included the following: reservoirs—including cleaning and plastering the inner side of ponds, Emergency nutrition Compounding the crisis is a deadly providing fencing for safety from ¡ Treated 18,600 children under age 5 cholera outbreak, reported to be the ¡ accidents, repair of sedimentation suffering from moderate acute worst in the world, which is escalating tanks, and constructing water malnutrition, and 13,500 pregnant at roughly 10,000 suspected cases collection channels. per week. As of November 2018, and breastfeeding women. Some ¡¡Installed solar pumps, water tanks more than 1.2 million cases of cholera, 13,350 children and 10,000 women and water distribution points, water resulting in 2,515 deaths, had been were discharged as cured. taps for human use, and water basins recorded. The epidemic struck when ¡ Treated 5,700 people with severe ¡ for livestock. the capacity of the health system was acute malnutrition, with 3,190 ¡¡Trained water management crippled by two years of continuous discharged as cured. committees on safe water use, conflict and import restrictions. ¡¡ Recruited and trained health workers sustainability practices, operation and Health infrastructure also collapsed, and community health volunteers. maintenance of boreholes, financial hampering water, sanitation and ¡¡ Counseled mothers and caretakers management and record keeping. hygiene services. of children under age 2 on nutrition ¡¡Trained 40 community volunteers and improved hygiene. on hygiene promotion activities. ¡¡ Provided food supplements for Training topics included key hygiene children 6 to 24 months old, and messages, steps to carry out pregnant and breastfeeding women. promotion at the household and ¡¡ Distributed medicines, supplies and community levels, and techniques to furniture to 33 health facilities. inspire hygiene.

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